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The Moral Project of Childhood by Daniel Thomas Cook investigates the relationship between consumption, childhood, and motherhood in 19th and early 20th century Christian magazines aimed at privileged North American women. The book argues that the advice to mothers in these religious periodicals aligns well with conceptions of childhood, children’s consumption, and parenting today, suggesting these conceptualizations have earlier origins than previously thought.

Cook initially set out to write a chapter about 19th century white, middleclass, Global North childhood as a precursor to today’s child consumer. His focus reflected conventional wisdom that modern day links between children and the market had not yet fully solidified in this era. As he delved into advice and information about children and childrearing to white, affluent, US mothers in women’s religious periodicals from the 1830s to the 1930s, his …